1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for coiling material in the form of strip, in particular to the coiling of continuously cast thin slabs. After leaving the continuous casting line, the strip is wound into a coil in a furnace at a casting speed, and subsequently payed off from the coil at a rolling speed. Preferably two furnaces, one preferably located above the other, are used for alternating coiling and payoff of the strip.
2. Background Information
In the production of hot-rolled strip from continuously cast primary material, there is a difference between the speed of continuous casting and the speed of rolling. Measures must therefore be taken in industrial plants to compensate for the speed difference. These measures include the temporary storage of the strip. One such method involves winding the primary material into coils, with the coiling process preferably taking place in a furnace in order to achieve uniform temperature conditions for the reprocessing of the strip when it is subsequently payed out into the rolling mill. To avoid work interruptions, it has been proposed that two coiling devices be used in the furnace, one preferably being located above the other, so that while the first coiling device is winding up strip, the other coiling device can be paying off strip; see European Patent No. A1 01 77 187. These furnaces preferably include separator-like devices to deflect the strip on both the entrance and the exit side of the furnace, and winding devices for coiling and paying out the strip from the furnace. However, such devices necessitate correspondingly large openings in the furnace for the entrance and exit of the strip. Further, the pivoting back-up rolls, pivoting tables and coil opening chisels, which are conventionally employed for coiling and paying out the strip, most often operate inside the furnace and represent disruptive factors However, the ma]or problem of the known devices is presented by the large openings which must exist on both sides of the furnace, and which represent a significant thermal loss for the strip being wound. Such openings also have an adverse effect on the operation of the furnace.